Stress, burnout, and stepping back

[techhelpbb]

Originally Posted by philso

Another way of looking at it is that if you burn out, you will not be very helpful to any team. You will also drive away others who might consider being a mentor but don't want to make the level of sacrifice you are making. I have seen co-workers burn out, and have been on the brink myself. It is not pretty and recovery can take a very long time.

Outside of FRC11 I know of at least 2 corporations that no longer support FIRST specifically because they had a cascade of burn out between their own goals and the demands of FRC. They were supporting employee involvement directly. As a courtesy I won't name them on this forum because I honor their previous efforts and still thank them for the contributions they made.

When people burn out at the very minimum it leaves work for other people to do and that alone can cause a cascade. I've experienced this from both sides personally. I think the best thing you can try to do is be honest with your team and yourself. Sometimes burn out can not be avoided but I think if your team is realistic with itself it can be minimized. When you can't avoid it even after you make every attempt you have to make tough choices. The more you lead the more you have to make such choices - that's the price of leadership.

School, family issues and job issues can leave one making tough choices. I take a little different view than Philso above - even if your burn out doesn't hurt you finding more help - it is going to hurt these teams if you are making it too easy to rely on a pool of resources too small. Sometimes people respect things more when they have to work for them. In the end if no one else is willing to step up maybe one should re-evaluate how this commitment fits the community.

The very first time I took a step back from FRC11 I specifically told them I felt it was time to see if it would sink or swim. It was a lot to ask from me to start FRC11 as I finished up my college education and the work to do it drove some serious issues for me. FRC11 still exists 20 years later because other people stood up to shoulder the burden: proving that the community thinks this crazy idea isn't so crazy to absolutely everyone after all. It is more gratifying to me that people continue to filter in to support FRC11/193 than that I am the hero that will be forever obligated. It means to me that I contributed to something that hopefully will survive my ability to support it (either for the ominous fact we all pass eventually or because something more critical interferes).